• Three out of five women over 65 cannot afford to cover their basic needs.
• Only 7 percent of women are “very confident” in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.
• 43 percent of women expect to work past age 70 or do not plan to retire.
• [65% of] Baby Boomer women do not have a backup plan if forced into retirement sooner than expected.
• 53 percent expect to self-fund their retirement through 401(k) or other savings and investments.
• Of women who have or plan to take time out of the workforce to be a caregiver, 74 percent believe that it will negatively impact their ability to save for retirement.
• 6 percent is the median contribution of women who participate in their employer’s plan.
• 55 percent are saving for retirement outside of work in an IRA, mutual fund, bank account, etc.
• The majority (59 percent) of women who estimate their financial need guess what their retirement savings needs would be rather than using a calculator or advisor.
• Only 35 percent of women use a professional financial advisor, most (79 percent) doing so for retirement investment recommendations.
• Women earned 78.3 cents for every dollar men earned in 2013, a Census Bureau report released Tuesday [9/16/14] showed. That compares to 76.5 cents a year earlier.
• Because of maternity and family leaves, which total about 13 years, retired women will receive about half the pension benefits retired men will receive.
• Between ages 75 and 84, more than 60 percent of women are single or widowed. That number jumps to 87 percent after age 85.
• With the death of a spouse, women often suffer a large drop in income.
• Social security replaces only about 40 percent of a workers’ prior wages.
• Women today earn the majority of doctorates and master’s degrees and nearly sixty percent of U.S. college students are women.
• Just one-third of women have a detailed financial plan in place, and, among the youngest segment (ages 25-34), just one in 10 has a financial plan in place.
• Eighty-six percent of women do not know how to invest or choose a financial product.
• Only 47% are confident talking money and investments with a professional.
• 60% worry about having enough money to last through retirement.
• 8/10 confessed they have refrained from having financial conversations.
• 74% are proactive about saving money for the future.
• 92% are eager to learn about financial planning.
• Women, on average, earn 76% of what men earn, resulting in an average lifetime earnings differential of $250,000.
• Social Security is the only source of income for 25 percent of unmarried women.
• Women spend 27 years in the work force while men work almost 40 years. Yet a woman who reaches 65 can expect to live until 84 or 85, about four years longer than a man.

Sources:

Source: Analysis of U.S. Census data by Wider Opportunities for Women

Source: 14th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers (2014)

Source: Wall Street Journal

Source: What Women Need to Know About Retirement: A joint project of the Heinz Family Philanthropies and the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement

Source: Time magazine, “Women, Money and Power,” 3/26/12.

Source: Financial Experience &Behaviors Among Women, 2010−2011 Prudential Research Study.

Source: Fidelity Investments Money FIT Women Study, February 2015

Source: WISER Publications